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Germany’s struggling economy has suffered another blow, with new data this morning showing a drop in manufacturing orders.

German factory orders tumbled by 5.4% month-on-month in November, statistics body Destatis reported, and were 1.7% lower than a year ago.

In fact, notwithstanding some more technical rebounds, there is still no trend reversal in sight for the German industry. It’s bottoming out at best.

At the same time, disappointing retail sales suggest that the rebound in private consumption in the third quarter is unlikely to continue in the fourth quarter. Unless Christmas shopping brings a positive surprise, private consumption is set to drop, and ongoing political and policy uncertainty combined with re-accelerating inflation make any substantial rebound in consumption unlikely.